Knitting machinery



June 1970 F. H. CARROTTE ETAL 3,517,429

KNITTING MACHINERY 2 $heets-5heet 1 Filed May 10, 1968 FlfffifR/CkHf/VRY CAR/W715 9EOR4f HEKBERT W/LSM INVENTURS BY JJAWS' Ham's. FAITHFULL HAP900D mm AT TURNE Y5 June 30, 1970 F. H. CARROTTE ETAL 3,517,429

KNITTING MACHINERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 10, 1968 FREDERICK H ENRYCARROTTE & qEoRqE HERBERT WILSON INVNTOR$ BYDAVIS, HOXIE, FAITIIFUL & HAqm M ATTURNEYS United States Patent 3,517,429 KNITTING MACHINERYFrederick Henry Carrotte, Leicester, and George Herbert Wilson,Coventry, England, assignors to A. Kirkland & Company Limited, Syston,Leicester, England, a British company Filed May 10, 1968, Ser. No.728,280 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 12, 1967,22,254/67 Int. Cl. B231) 19/00 US. Cl. 29-200 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Apparatus for the removal of selected bits from thecircumference of pattern wheel elements for circular knitting machines,the apparatus comprising holding means for releasably holding one ormore pattern wheel elements, mounting means on which a representation ofat least part of the repeat pattern area of a fabric to be produced canbe mounted, a plurality of selection members each of which can belocated, in accordance with information on a representation on themounting means, to set a separate bit-removing member in or out of aposition in which relative movement between it and a pattern Wheelelement held by the holding means will cause removal of a bit from thecircumference of the pattern wheel element, and means for effecting suchrelative movement. The bit-removing members may be carried on theselection members, and the holding means may be adapted to hold aplurality of pattern wheel elements.

The production of a patterned fabric, by which term We mean a fabrichaving a freehand or geometric pattern either in stitch configuration orcolour, is accomplished on a circular knitting machine by arranging forthe cylinder needles to knit, tuck or miss according to a prearrangedsequence. As each needle approaches each feeder the needle is selectedeither to be raised to knit or tuck or not to be raised by the camsassociated with that feeder. The characteristics of the cams associatedwith each feeder dictate the type of stitch formed at that feeder andhereinafter we use the term knit as opposed to miss to refer to alltypes of stitch which can be so formed.

One method of selecting the cylinder needles to knit or miss is by theuse of pattern wheels. These are devices which are rotated at aprearranged speed in relation to the speed of the cylinder and whichhave parts and spaces thereon adapted to cooperate with needles or withselector members on the cylinder for selecting needles in consecutivetricks in the cylinder to knit or miss according to the prearrangedconfiguration of the said parts and spaces on the pattern wheels.

One type of pattern wheel operates by having circumferential bits whichbear against jacks in the tricks. Each jack is associated with a needlein the same trick and on moving the jack radially in the trick, underthe infiuence of a bit on a pattern Wheel, the same jack, a furtherjack, or the needle in the trick is positioned so as to be ready to beraised or not by a cam associated with the next feeder. Patterning isthen achieved by removing or retaining the bits on the pattern wheels.

It has been proposed to make fabrics having increased repeat patternareas by providing in place of each pattern wheel a number of patternwheel members each of which can be brought into co-operativerelationship with selector members on the cylinder according to aprearranged sequence. This can be accomplished, for example, by movingthe pattern wheel members into or out of engagement with selectormembers on the cylinder by a racking mechanism. Alternatively, all ofthe pattern wheel mem- 3,517,429 Patented June 30, 1970 bers may bemaintained in the same positions but the selector members on thecylinder may themselves be arranged so as to co-operate with differentpattern wheel members in sequence. For convenience, hereinafter, we usethe term pattern wheel member to denote a member which alone, ortogether with other pattern wheel members, constitutes a pattern wheelas referred to above, the member having circumferential bits and/ or bitspaces. The arrangement of the bits and/ or bit spaces on the patternwheel member dictates the pattern of a fabric to be knitted whilst themember is controlling the operation of a knitting machine.

In circular knitting machines of fine gauge it has been proposed to usea practice termed half-gauging. This involves arranging for alternateselector members on the cylinder to cooperate with bits and bit spaceson different pattern wheel elements and enables the dimensions of thebits to be increased. In this case each pattern wheel m mber comprisestwo pattern wheel elements each of which has around its circumferencehalf of the number of bits plus bit spaces of the pattern wheel member.Clearly, a further practice, which could be termed third-gauging, couldbe adopted in which case each pattern wheel element would have only onethird of the number of circumferential bits plus bit spaces of a patternwheel member, and so on.

The term pattern wheel element is used hereinafter to mean an element ofa pattern wheel, which is either a pattern wheel member, or whichtogether with one or more other pattern Wheel elements constitutes apattern wheel member, as hereinbefore defined. Such pattern wheelelements have circumferential bits plus bit spaces which co-operate Withselector members on the cylinder of a circular knitting machine fordetermining the pattern of fabrics to be knitted on the machine. Apattern wheel element as just defined may constitute a complete patternwheel or only a part of a pattern wheel.

The full procedure of making a new patterned fabric on a circularknitting machine having pattern Wheel elements involves firstlypreparing the design for the repeat pattern area of the fabric and thentransferring it to squared paper, each square of which represents onestitch in each repeat pattern area on the face of the finished fabric.The next step is to prepare the pattern wheel elements by providing themwith the required configuration of circumferential bits and bit spaces.This is a tedious operation involving many hours of exacting work as anymistake made in the configuration of the bits and bit spaces can bedifiicult to trace and there are often as many as 10-l5,000 stitches inthe repeat pattern area of a single fabric.

The present invention seeks to simplify the procedure of preparing thepattern Wheel elements for the production of a fabric on a circularknitting machine.

According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for theremoval of selected bits from the circumference of pattern wheelelements for circular knitting machines, the apparatus comprisingholding means for releasably holding one or more pattern wheel elements,mounting means on which a representation of at least part of the repeatpattern area of a fabric to be produced can be mounted, a plurality ofselection members each of which can be located, in accordance withinformation on a representation on the mounting means, to set a separatebit-removing member in or out of a position in which relative movementbetween it and a pattern wheel element held by the holding means willcause removal of a bit from the circumference of the pattern wheelelement, and means for effecting such relative movement.

To shorten the time necessary for preparing all the pattern wheelelements needed for the production of any one patterned fabric, it ispreferable to be able to hold a number of pattern wheel elements on theapparatus at any one time. Where a given number of pattern wheelelements are used in the formation of each course in the repeat patternarea of the fabric to be produced, it is preferred that the same numberof pattern wheel elements should be holdable on the apparatus together.If, however, the practice of half-gauging is adopted, that is wherealternate selector members on the cylinder are contacted by bits fromdifferent, complementary pattern wheel elements, it may be moreconvenient to hold on the apparatus at any one time only the number ofpattern wheel elements necessary to form half the stitches in eachcourse of the repeat pattern area, that is either the odd numbered orthe even numbered stitches.

It is preferred that the mounting means on the apparatus should be ableto accommodate a representation of the whole of the repeat pattern areaof the fabric to be produced. A convenient form of mounting means is adrum rotatable about its axis and to which a representation of therepeat pattern area can be attached. Each row on the pattern representsa course in the fabric and the drum is arranged to be rotated, eithermanually or automatically, so as to bring each row on the pattern to aposition at which the marks on that row of the representation can beread by the operator of the apparatus and the position of thebit-removing selection members chosen accordingly.

To shorten further the time taken to prepare the total number of patternwheel elements for the production of a patterned fabric, it ispreferable that a plurality of bits should be removable from eachpattern wheel element during each operation of the means for effectingthe relative movement between the bit-removing selection members and thepattern wheel elements. This can be accomplished by having a pluralityof bit-removing members in operative relationship with each patternwheel element when relative movement is caused between them. Where thebits and/or bit spaces on each pattern wheel element co-operate withselector members on the cylinder over only a portion of itscircumference during each completed revolution of the pattern wheelelement, it is preferred that the number of bit-removing selectionmembers in such operative relationship with each pattern Wheel elementon the apparatus of the present invention should be equal to the numberof bits in each such proportion of the pattern wheel elementscircumference.

An apparatus embodying the invention is illustrated, by way of example,in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus,

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus of FIG. I, viewed fromdirection A, and

FIG. 3 is a plan of a pattern wheel element of the type which can beprepared for use by means of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2. g

The apparatus in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a frame 1 comprising a base 2 and twointegral, vertical end members 3 and 4. A sub-frame 5 comprising twomembers 6 and 7 and two horizontal rods 8 and 9 is slidably mounted onthe frame 1 in plain bearings (not shown) in the end members 3 and 4,through which the rods 8 and 9 pass. The rod 8 has a rack 10 machined init which is meshed with a pinion 11 which is rotatably mounted on avertical pivot pin 12. A collar 13 is also fixed to the pin 12 and anarm 14 projects from the collar and carries on its free end a knob 15.Manual movement of the arm 14 in the counterclockwise direction asviewed from above in FIG. 1 causes rotation of the pinion 11 and thusmovement of the sub-frame in the direction of the arrow B and viceversa.The sub-frame is shown in FIG. 1 at the extreme of its movement towardsthe right. Movement of the subframe 5 in the direction opposite to thearrow B, that is to the position shown, is limited by contact betweenthe end of an adjustable screw-threaded rod 16, passing through themember 7, and the head of a bolt 17 in the end member 4. Movement of thesub-frame 5 in the direction of the arrow B is limited by contactbetween the head of a bolt 18 in the end member 3 and the end of anadjustable screw-threaded rod 19 passing through the member 6.

The sub-frame member 6 has two mandrel mounting bosses 20 and 21 onshafts (not shown) which are retatable in plain bearings (also notshown) in the member. On the ends of the shafts are castellated wheels22 and 23, respectively. Each of the wheels 22 and 23 has eight equallyseparated castellations 24 and 25, respectively. The member 6 alsocarries two arms 26 and 27 which are associated, respectively, with thewheels 22 and 23. The arms 26 and 27 are pivoted about pivot pins 28 and29, respectively, and are spring-loaded by coil springs 30 and 31,respectively, into the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 where parts ofeach of the arms 26 and 27 are disposed in gaps between thecastellations 24 and 25 of the wheels 22 and 23, respectively. Rotationof the bosses 20 and 21 is thereby prevented except when the arms 26 and27 are manually pivoted about the pins 28 and 29 and the said parts ofthe arms are disengaged from the castellations.

The sub-frame member 7 also carries two mandrel mounting bosses 32 and33 mounted at the ends of shafts 34 and 35, respectively, which shaftsare slidable in plain bearings (not shown) in the member 7. Both of themandrel mounting bosses 32 and 33 are biased by internal coil springs36, towards the right in FIG. 1. One of the springs 36 is shown on theshaft 34 of the upper mandrel mounting boss 32 in FIG. 1.

The upper boss 32 is shown projecting to the limit of its movement fromthe member 7 whilst the lower boss 33 is shown with its shaft 35 "as faras possible within the member 7. The shafts 34 and 35 carry rods 37 and38, respectively, passing through elongated slots 39 and 40,respectively, in the front of the sub-frame member 7. A verticallyslidable member 41 is movable across the slots 39 and 40 so as to holdeither one of the rods 37 and 38 in a position which the shaft to whichit is attached is held largely within the member 7, the shaft 35 beingso held in FIG. 1. The slidable member 41 is connected to one end of aBowdenflex cable 42 which passes into a Bowdenfiex tube 43 the end ofwhich is fixed to a bracket 44 attached to the top of the sub-framemember 7. Manual movement of the slidable member 41, which carries ahandle 45 for this purpose, causes movement of the cable 42 in the tube43, the other ends of both of which are connected to further parts ofthe apparatus as described below.

Two brackets 46 and 47 are bolted to the backs of the frames end members3 and 4, respectively. At the upper end of each bracket there is a plainbearing (not shown) in which a spindle 48 is both rotatable andslidable. A drum 49 is attached to the spindle between the brackets 46and 47 and two bosses 50 and 51 are clamped to the free ends of thespindle to prevent the spindle from being withdrawn from the bearingsbut allowing a small degree of axial movement. The free end of thespindle 48 which carries the boss 51 is connected through a lost motiondevice to the other end of the Bowdenfiew cable 42 and the other end ofthe Bowdenflex tube 43 is fixed to a bracket 52 attached to the bracket47. Upward movement of the slidable member 41 thus causes, through theBowdenflex cable connection, movement of the spindle 48 and drum 49towards the right, as viewed in FIG. 1, whilst downward movement of themember 41 to the position shown causes opposite movement of the drum 49to the position in which it is shown.

A rod 53 is fixedly held between the end members 3 and 4 of the frame.Forty-eight selection members 54- are pivotally mounted on the rod 53with spacers 55 between them. The selection members are movable betweenthe two positions designated by the numerals 54a and 54b in FIG. 2. Inthe position 54a the lower ends 56 of the selection members come intocontact with a rod 57 fixed between the end members 3 and 4 and in theposition 54b, the top ends 58 of the selection members come into contactwith a further fixed rod 59. For convenience, only the six selectionmembers at each end of the set of forty-eight such members are shown inFIG. 1. Each of the selection members 54 has two arcuate cut-outs 60 and61 in each of which one pin 62 or 63, respectively, is located. The pins62 and 63 constitute bit-removing members in the present apparatus andthese pins are, of course, carried on the selection members.

The selection members 54 are arranged in eight sets of six members ineach set, each of the six members in each set having a pin 62 and a pin63 in different positions from the pins 62 and 63 of other members inthe set, as shown in the two sets of selection members shown in full inFIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 2 the pins 62 are shown on selection members inposition 54a and the pins 63 on selection member shown in position 54b.

A horizontal bar 64 is pivotally mounted on a horizontal pin 65 in theend member 3. With the bar 64 in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 theselection members 54 are locked in one or other of the positions 54a and54b. However, manual movement of the bar about the pivot 65 allows theselection members to be moved from one position to the other whendesired.

A mandrel 66 is mounted on the apparatus between the bosses 20 and 32.The mandrel is freely rotatable in the boss 32, but at its other end themandrel is keyed to the boss 20 so as to prevent relative rotationbetween the two. The boss 20 is rotatable only when the arm 26 is movedout of engagement with the castellations on its attached wheel 22 butwhen the arm 26 is moved out of engagement, the mandrel can be rotatedmanually by rotation of the wheel 22. The mandrel comprises a centralshaft 67 having a keyed end 68 connecting with the boss 20 and a plainend 69 which lies within the boss 32. Mounted on the shaft 67 are nineremovable spacers 70a to 70i, numbering from the keyed end 68. Betweeneach pair of adjacent spacers there is a pattern wheel element 71. Eachof these is keyed to one of the adjacent spacers 70 and each of thespacers is keyed to the shaft 67 to prevent relative rotation betweenthe shaft and any of the spacers or elements 71 on the assembledmandrel. Each of the spacers 70a to 70i has a differently positioned key(not shown), the keys on the eight spacers being angularly separatedfrom each adjacent spacer by 45 and the positions of the keys beinggenerally on a left-hand helix around the shaft 67.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the pattern wheel elements 71 is a generallyannular disc having forty-eight circumferential bits 72. A slot 73 isformed for keying the pattern wheel element to one of its adjacentspacers 70 on the mandrel 66 and a circular score mark 74 is formed inone side of each pattern wheel element near the roots of the bits forfacilitating their removal by use of the apparatus. One bit has beenremoved from the pattern wheel element shown in FIG. 3 to leave a space75. The radial length and width of each bit are similar to thedimensions of the pins 62 and 63 on the selector members 54.

The mandrel 66 or an identical mandrel can be fitted between the bosses21 and 33 in exactly the same way as the mandrel 66 is fitted betweenthe bosses 20 and 32 when necessary, as explained below.

The sequence of operations to use the apparatus involves firstly placinga graphical representation of the repeat pattern area of a fabric to beproduced around the drum 49 with the lines representing courses in thefabric lying parallel to the axis of the drum, and the linesrepresenting the wales in the fabric aligned with the selector members54. A mandrel 66, bearing eight pattern Wheel elements 71 in particularrelationship, as described below, is then placed either between thebosses 20 and 32 or between the bosses 21 and 3-3. With the bar 64 movedout of the way of the selection members 54, all of the selection membersaligned with squares on the pattern corresponding to particular stitchesto be formed are then moved from the position 54a to the position 54b.This movement can be accomplished by the use of a hand tool adapted togrip the top ends of the selection member which can be provided withbevelled parts 76 for this purpose. When all of the selected selectionmembers 54 have been so moved, the bar 64 is moved back into itshorizontal position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 so as to lock all of theselection members into their selected positions. The arm 14 is thenmanually moved to cause the sub-frame 5 carrying the mandrel 66 to bemoved in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 1. Each of the patternwheel elements 71 is thereby moved through the distance occupied by sixof the selection members 54. As each bit, if any, on the circumferenceof the pattern wheel elements projecting from the spacers 70 comes upagainst any pin 62 or 63 of the selection members, it is broken off atthe score mark 74. The sub-frame 5 is then returned to its originalposition, as shown in FIG. 1. Any bits broken ed the pattern wheelelements 71 fall down from the mandrel '66 and are kept away from therack 10 and pinion 11 by a guard plate 77.

The mandrel 66' is then rotated through 45 to its next position bylifting either the arm 26 or the arm 27, depending on which pair ofbosses 20 and 32 or 21 and 33 the mandrel is located between. The arm 26or 27 is thus removed from the gap between the castellations 24 or 25 onthe associated wheel 22 or 23 and then the wheel is turned until the armengages in the next gap. The bar 64 is then moved out of the way of theselection members so that they can be returned to their positions 54a.If desired, a device (not shown) can be provided to enable all theselection members 54 to be returned together to their positions 54a.This device may comprise a lever connected to a long bar extending thewidth of the machine in a position so as to engage all the selectionmembers when the lever is pulled.

The drum 49 is then rotated to a new position where a further horizontalline of the repeat pattern area can be scanned by the operator and theappropriate selection members 54 are then moved into the position 54b,before the bar 64 is moved back to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2to lock the selection members into their selected positions. Thereafterbits from the pattern wheel elements 71 are again removed, though thistime from further sectors of the pattern Wheel elements, by movement ofthe sub-frame.

This procedure is repeated so that, in all, eight movements of thesub-frame 5 are necessary to remove all of the selected bits from theeight pattern wheel elements held in the apparatus. The mandrel 66 isthen replaced by a fresh mandrel carrying eight new, unprepared patternwheel elements for which the procedure described above is repeated. Theelements so prepared on each mandrel are subsequently removed from themandrels to be mounted onto pattern wheel assemblies for use on aknitting machine.

If desired, an indexing device (not shown) can be provided for the drum49 to enable it to be located accurately. The device may comprise aplunger spring loaded for engagement in holes located around theperiphery of the drum.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings and described above isparticularly adapted for preparing pattern wheel elements of the disctype for use with a circular knitting machine embodying the inventiondescribed in the specification of copending US. patent application Ser.No. 652,825, filed July 12, 1967, now Pat. No. 3,464,234. One suchknitting machine has 1716 needles in its cylinder and a number ofpattern wheels disposed around its cylinder, each pattern wheelcomprising 8 pattern wheel members each having 96 bits plus bit spaces,a set of 12 bits plus bit spaces from each pattern wheel member beingadapted to co-operate with selector members on the cylinder during eachrevolution of the pattern wheel and a different set of 12 bits plus bitspaces from each pattern wheel member being so adapted during each of 8revolutions of the cylinder.

The practice of half-gauging is adopted so that each pattern wheelmember comprises two pattern wheel elements, which in the particularembodiment described are of the disc type shown in FIG. 3. Each suchpattern wheel element has, therefore, 48 circumferential bits, six ofwhich are adapted to co-operate with selector members on the cylinderduring each revolution of each pattern wheel element, 16 of Which aremounted on each complete pattern wheel assembly.

In a circular knitting machine having these characteristics, and alsobeing adapted for use with pattern wheels comprising two pattern wheelmembers, the selector members on the cylinder may be rocking jackshaving butts for co-operating with bits on the pattern wheel elements.It is then arranged that the two pattern wheel elements forming eachpattern wheel member are positioned on each pattern wheel assembly tohave their bits acting on butts in one case above and in the other casebelow the pivot points for the rocking jacks. Thus to move each rockingjack into one particular position so that a particular operation will beperformed by its associated needle at the next feeder, it is possible touse either a bit on an upper pattern Wheel element or a bit space on alower pattern wheel element, or vice-versa. It follows that on preparingthe pattern wheel elements, it is necessary to remove bits from thoseelements which will co operate with selector members on the cylinder toform odd-numbered stitches in each repeat pattern area of fabric knittedand to leave only those bits on the elements which co-operate withselector members on the cylinder to form even numbered stitches in eachrepeat pattern area of fabric knitted, or vice-versa to form aparticular stitch on the needles associated with the selector memberseach time.

It is because of this that the apparatus of the present invention hastwo mandrel mounting positions, between the pairs of bosses 20, 32 and21, 33. Mandrels mounted between the upper pair of bosses 20 and 32 areused for preparing pattern wheel elements to be used for forming oddnumbered stitches in each repeat pattern area and the lower pair ofbosses 21 and 33 are used for preparing pattern wheel elements forforming even numbered stitches in each repeat pattern area. Thus, if aparticular selection member is held in the position 54b when thesub-assembly is moved relative to the frame 1, a bit will be removedfrom a pattern wheel element mounted on a mandrel between the bosses 20and 32 whereas the selection member has to be in the opposite position54a to cause removal of a bit from a pattern wheel element on a mandrelbetween the bosses 21 and 33.

The Bowdenflex connection between the slidable member 41 and the spindle48 ensures that the drum 49 bearing the graphical representation of therepeat pattern area of the fabric is correctly positioned relative tothe selection members 54 when pattern wheel elements are being preparedon a mandrel 66 placed either between the bosses 20 and 32 or betweenthe bosses 21 and 33. If the mandrel is held between the bosses 20 and32, as shown in FIG. 1, the drum 49 is positioned at the extreme of itsleft hand movement, where the top end of each selection member isaligned, when in the position 54a, with the odd numbered squares of thegraphical representation of the repeat pattern area. When a mandrel 66is placed between the other pair of bosses 21 and 33, for which it isnecessary to move the slidable member 41, the drum 49 is simultaneouslymoved by a shorter distance because of the lost motion device, to aposition in which the selection members 54 become aligned with the evennumbered squares of the graphical representation. It will beappreciated, however, that the Browdenflex connection is a refinement inthe machine and is not in any way a necessity as the drum 49 couldreadily be moved axially by hand.

Because of the arrangement, in the circuit knitting machine adapted touse pattern wheel elements of the disc type prepared on the apparatus ofthe present invention, that each pattern wheel element co-operates withselector members on the cylinder over only one eighth of itscircumference, each course of 96 stitches in the repeat pattern area ofthe fabric is produced by the use of 6 bits plus bit spaces from each ofthe sixteen pattern wheel elements in the set of pattern wheel elementsin each pattern wheel assembly. Eight of the pattern wheel elements areused for forming the even numbered stitches and eight for the oddnumbered sitches. The sets of six bits plus bit spaces on each patternwheel element are offset from each other on the sets of eight patternwheel elements by 45 so that on revolution of the whole set in thepattern wheel assembly, the six bits plus bit spaces can be broughtsequentially into operations with selector members (the butts of therocking jacks mentioned above) on the cylinder. It is for this reasonthat when preparing the pattern wheel elements on the apparatus of thepresent invention it is necessary to mount the elements of each set ofeight on the mandrels 66 with their slots 73 offset from each other by45. As mentioned above, this is accomplished by providing each of thespacers 70a to 70i with a differently positioned key (not shown) forengaging the slot on its adjacent element 71. When the elements 71 aremounted on each pattern wheel assembly their slots are, of course,aligned.

Use of the apparatus according to the invention greatly facilitates thepreparation of the pattern wheel elements for a circular knittingmachine, and is particularly advantageous for use with knitting machinescapable of knitting fabrics with large repeat pattern areas. Thus, for aknitting machine embodying the invention described in the specificationof copending US. patent application Ser. No. 652,825, filed July 12,1967, now Pat. No. 3,464,234, and having 1716 needles and 18 patternwheel assemblies each having 16 pattern wheel elements with 48circumferential bits plus bit spaces on each element, the nonspiral,repeat pattern area in two colours is 144 courses by 96 wales. However,to cut the 288 pattern wheel ele- 'ments together carrying a total of13,824 bits plus bit spaces only 36 operations are necessary, usingeight different elements on a mandrel each time.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the removal of selected bits from the circumference ofpattern wheel elements for circular knitting machines, the apparatuscomprising holding means for releasably holding one or more patternwheel elements, mounting means on which a representation of at leastpart of the repeat pattern area of a fabric to be produced can bemounted, a plurality of selection members each of which can be located,in accordance with information on a representation on the mountingmeans, to set a separate bit-removing member in or out of a position inwhich relative movement between it and a pattern wheel element held bythe holding means will cause removal of a bit from the circumference ofthe pattern wheel element, and means for effecting such relativemovement.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bit-removing members arecarried on the selection members.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding means is adaptedto hold a plurality of pattern wheel elements.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding means is adaptedto hold the number of pattern wheel elements used in the formation of acourse in the repeat pattern area of a fabric to be produced.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the holding means is adaptedto hold one half of the number of pattern wheel elements used in theformation of a course in the repeat pattern area of a fabric to beproduced.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting means is ableto accommodate a representation of the whole of the repeat pattern areaof a fabric to be produced.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting means isconstituted by a drum mounted for rotation about its axis and adapted toreceive the said representation on its outer surface.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and having a separate set ofselection members for operating on each pat- UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1968 Kirkham 29-200 2/1968 Kirkham 29-200 THOMAS H. EAGER, PrimaryExaminer Us. 01. X.R.

